Chapter 2 – Just do it, kiss her.
The crisp night air brushed against Ulrich’s face when he opened the door of the building.
So far so good. No sign of Jim’s Night Patrol. Let’s try to keep it that way, Stern.
Ulrich ran across the soccer field towards the gate. As he approached it, he was careful not to crack any twigs or make noise, given he didn’t know where to expect the Night Patrol. Ulrich cautiously drew near the gate, took one last look around for the Night Patrol, and advanced through the gate.
Once he was far enough away from the school to be detected by noise, he walked slowly down the street towards the Ishiyama’s. Ulrich’s head was racing in circles about what he should say to Yumi. He slowly climbed the steps. His finger pressed the doorbell and released it. Ding-dong. Footsteps. The door creaked open.
“Hi, Ulrich. Glad you could come, might call me down a little now,” Yumi said, motioning for Ulrich to come in, and closed the door behind him. He took his seat on the couch next to Yumi.
“I’m glad to be here, Yumi. Anything that I can do to cheer you up?” he asked shyly.
“You already cheered me up, just having you here cheered me up,” she said with a smile. Ulrich blushed slightly.
“Listen, Yumi, I wanted . . . Well, you see . . . I was wondering . . .” he staggered.
“Can you use full sentences? I can’t understand you when you don’t,” Yumi replied. The two laughed slightly. Ulrich paused before continuing.
Deep breaths, take deep, slow breaths. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Go!
“I know that you don’t want to mess up our friendship, and I respect that, but . . .”
Just say it, Stern. Just say it.
“I want to be more than friends,” Ulrich said as calmly as he could. He waited for Yumi to react.
Yumi sat in silence, and a small, salty, clear tear ran down her face. Another followed shortly.
“Yumi, what’s wrong? Oh, ok, I guess you don’t want to be more than friends, I get it. I was wrong,” he said with a look of slight disappointment in his face. He hung his head slightly and got up off of the couch.
“No, no, Ulrich,” Yumi said, reaching for his hand and pulling him back down on the couch. “I do. I’m crying because I’m happy, I’ve waited so long for this. You just looked like you didn’t want to, so I just kept quiet.” Another tear ran down her cheek. Ulrich took his finger and wiped it away. Yumi moved closer to Ulrich on the couch. Ulrich embraced Yumi in a hug that seemed to last forever.
Ring! Ring!
“Ulrich, that’s your cell. Answer it.”
“No. They can leave a message,” he replied, not ending the hug.
Ring! Ring!
“It’ll just keep ringing!” Yumi said.
“It’s fine.”
Ring! Ring!
“Ulrich! Answer you phone, please!” Yumi said, a slight tone of amusement in her voice.
“Fine, but I don’t want to. I’m making it quick,” he replied.
“Neither do I,” she said, breaking off the hug. Ulrich reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone. Glancing at the caller ID, he saw it was Odd.
“Odd! Make it quick! What is it?” he said frantically.
“Hey! Sorry, buddy! Just callin’ to see if you made your move with Yumi yet. I would if you didn’t already, time’s a-wastin’!” Odd said snickering, not aware of the situation.
“Odd! I, I, ah, I’ll tell you later. I’ve got to go. Yumi wants to talk with me. Bye!” Ulrich said ending the call.
“Ulrich, I’m really glad that you said that, now I truly know how you feel,” Yumi said, moving closer to Ulrich on the couch.
Ulrich hesitated shyly, but then slowly leaned closer to Yumi. She did the same thing. They paused when their lips were almost touching for a moment. Ulrich could feel Yumi’s breath, and Yumi could feel Ulrich breathing.
This is it, Ulrich, the moment that you’ve been waiting for. Do it. Kiss her.
Ulrich gently placed a delicate kiss on Yumi’s lips. She kissed him back.